Journalism can be a powerful form of activism for those who are interested in social justice and talented as writers or public speakers. However, the journalism field is quickly changing and it's important to balance your relative interest in journalism and activism if you want to be successful. Here are some suggestions to help you get started as an activist journalist.

Steps

1

Define your goals. It's important to know exactly what you want before you put time and energy into building a career. There are several questions you can ask yourself to make your goals clearer.

Is it more important to you to make change or to advance in a particular area of journalism? If activism is your primary goal, and journalism only the means, you may become frustrated by working within mainstream newspapers, TV, or radio. Alternative newspapers or online journalism may be more appropriate for you, although you risk earning a lot less, so be prepared to either find other sources of income or funding.

What medium is most comfortable for you? For example, would you rather write or be on radio or camera? Do you want to be covering breaking news or doing more in depth coverage of important issues?

How savvy are you with technology? Your technical talents may lead you for example to blogging or photojournalism.

Do you want this to be a full-time career, or only part-time? How much money do you need to make to stay afloat? Again, journalism is not usually a lucrative career, and you may need to mix activist blogging, for example, with more neutral work that brings in more money.

2

Hone your skills. Once you have your goals in mind, practice writing, speaking in front of a camera or into a microphone, interviewing, blogging, or whatever you plan to do. You can always use a personal blog, videoblog, or podcast as practice and a resume builder. Take classes where appropriate and learn the style used by journalists in your area.

Think about the style of writing you'd like to adopt. Activist journalism carries with it a need to be conscious of the use of language and its hidden meanings or ability to shape readers' understandings. Be prepared to reclaim language that has been altered or taken over by agendas that are not inclusive or compassionate. Rethinking the way that language is used in mainstream media or by lobby groups is an important skill when you're an activist journalist.

Read widely and question widely. It's important that you have a broad understanding of differing perspectives in any issue that you're going to cover. This gives your work greater reliability and makes it harder to set aside as uninformed. This requires you to have excellent research skills and the ability to work past your own opinions and beliefs, to try to see all of the angles involved.

3

Build a portfolio. If you want to get paying gigs as a journalist, you need examples of your work. The Internet is a great tool to get your work out there, but you can also try other venues; for example, look for calls for submissions to magazines, write letters to the editor, or shop content around to people you know in the business.

4

Network and use your resources. Networking is an extremely powerful tool in journalism, and especially in activist circles. For example, if you want to get hired by a big progressive blog, you can start by getting active with social media and your own blog, leaving friendly comments for people who write there. Ask around to see if any of your contacts know anyone who might be useful in your job search. Resources like the Women's Media Center support progressive journalists and might be able to help you get a foot in the door. Fellowships are another place to turn; for example, NPR has several great comprehensive fellowships that help young journalists learn about the world of public radio.

Belong to organizations that reflect your activist concerns and beliefs. This will give you the opportunity to meet many people who are actively working to make a difference and you'll have plenty of interview and knowledge resources to call upon.

Ally yourself wherever you go, and try to do this beyond people whose ideas and causes gel with you. There are always more than two sides to a story, and in Western society where we're trained to see daily life in terms of argument and confrontation, it can be too easy to lose this multiple perspective. When looking for the multiple divergences in opinion, try to see the ways in which you can find common ground rather than conflict, and find people whose views have overlaps with your activist approach. Often the best story draws the threads together rather than making the story into a two-sided contest.

5

Become an expert in your field. Narrow your activism down to a particular area and become an expert in it. That doesn't have to be your only interest, but it helps if you become known as the person to turn to on queer issues, disability, or women of color, for example. Use an RSS reader or Google Alerts to thoroughly follow all the news in your area, and comment on it widely. Use Twitter, blogging, etc. to get your opinion out in different ways.

Enable readers to draw upon your expertise as a source of developing and tailoring their own viewpoints and solutions. Make it clear that you are facilitating understanding rather than being the last word on an issue. The heart of activism is to enable others to do their part to help make a difference in the world.

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Video

This video shows Mexican journalist and human rights activist Lydia Cacho Ribeiro. It's at the extreme end of activist journalism where each day is one of threats and fear and it shows the choices that you might need to make if you get involved as an activist journalist in area such as human rights.

Tips

Don't be discouraged if it takes time to build recognition. Steady effort over time pays off in the long run.

Stay one step ahead of the curve by learning about new technology such as social media, podcasting, and video blogging. Many paid journalists today started out on a blog or first gained a following with Twitter or Facebook.

Let others know about your goals. Networking only works if people in your network know what you're trying to do and spread the word. It is also important to be ready to help them in their work or cause too by showcasing them where relevant and by sharing information if possible and ethical to do so.

Warnings

Activism online can attract trolls and other negative side effects. Figure out a policy in advance to deal with this kind of negative attention if you're using your own webspace for activism, and try to deter hacking with some safeguards. Also keep a sense of humor; it is far better to react humorously to trolling than to react angrily or to show how much it has upset you. There is also the avenue of ignoring the trolls too!

If you are working in an area like human rights or unearthing corporate misdoings, being an activist journalist can be dangerous if a government, illegal organization, or corporation feels threatened by possible exposure. Be aware of the potential consequences of this type of activist journalism and protect yourself as best you can.

Journalism is built on a strong tradition of unbiased reporting. To be an activist journalist you must depart from this tradition to a degree. Try to explicitly set out your biases and values as parameters, and then do your best to be unbiased within those parameters. You may also wish to provide a reference to those with opposing viewpoints, so that a reader can get a more complete picture of the issue.

Being an activist in a public sphere means that your opinions are out there for all to hear. Keep in mind that this may affect your ability to get a job in the future, or your perception as an unbiased reporter if you're doing the activist side of your journalism after-hours. Be bold, but be aware of the possible consequences for your future employment.